An increasing number of Americans are concerned enough about the threat of precious metals confiscation to want to store gold or silver overseas. But laws in effect in 21 states may stand in their way.

I learned about these laws last year when one of my subscribers in Arizona called.

He wanted to buy gold from a foreign dealer for storage offshore, but the dealer refused to sell to him. The reason: the Arizona Model Commodities Act. After some research, I learned that 21 states have enacted the MCA or some variation of it: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

What if you arrange for a company to purchase gold or other metals on your behalf and that company stores those metals on your behalf in a foreign bank’s vault? While nothing is certain in life (other than death and taxes) a strong case can be made that this is not a “foreign financial account” if the following conditions apply:

The company does not itself sell the metals but only brokers purchases and sales

The metals are held together in a designated area of the foreign bank’s vault

Each bar or coin is identified by a unique, certified number.

The bars or coins in the vault are individually packaged and labeled so that it they are readily identifiable as your property.

You can take physical possession of the metals at any time.

Naturally, the IRS might disagree with this analysis. And if you enter into such an arrangement, I highly recommend confirming my interpretation with your own tax advisor.